Is that AI?
After two fast-paced days of planning, filming, problem-solving, and plenty of laughter, Gulf Coast State College’s Digital Media students completed their 2025 submission for the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) 48-Hour Film Competition. The annual event takes place each fall semester and was held this year from October 10 through October 12, 2025.
Following the success of past entries such as Cult Classic in 2024 and Sugarloaf in 2023, the Commodores pursued a new challenge for the program by entering the national competition with two production teams. Excitement gradually spread through the media hallway in the Charles Hilton Center as students began organizing and inviting others to participate. Both first-time competitors and returning students stepped up, helping build momentum leading into the weekend.
The growing sense of anticipation was hard to miss. With increased enrollment in the Digital Media A.S. program, classrooms were filled with new faces, and staff recognized an opportunity to bring students together in a meaningful way. Although many students were enrolled in different courses and had not yet worked alongside one another, they shared common creative interests and a strong desire to collaborate on a project that extended beyond individual coursework.
With a new year full of potential, fourteen interested creatives were divided between two team captains, each selected by faculty for their strong work both inside and outside the classroom. This year’s teams, Beach Bums and Urchin Emergence, featured a balanced mix of current students, recent graduates, returning competitors, and first-time participants.
Beach Bums
Led by Alejandro Soberon, a AS Digital Media student, the Beach Bums team included James Washington, Ryant Johnson, Majesty Taylor, Tyler Daugherty, Zavien Primm, and Yaqub Battle.
This team welcomed back Tyler and Ryant, returning filmmakers who competed during both the 2023 and 2024 seasons, along with Zavien, who worked primarily behind the scenes on Cult Classic and made a brief on-screen appearance in last year’s end credits. All three embraced the familiar pressure of the tight production timeline, with Zavien even commuting back and forth from his job to remain actively involved during post-production.
The rest of the team consisted of first-time participants, each bringing strong motivation and enthusiasm to the competition. Notably, for James, this marked not only his first time competing but also his first experience within the Digital Media program at GCSC.
Team Leader Alejandro (Right) films the driving scene with James (Left).
Beach Bums team during filming. Left to Right: Yaqub, Majesty, Alejandro, Ryant, James, Tyler.
Why don’t you stop changing the station, James Henry?
Pre-production officially began on Friday afternoon, although the release of the prompts arrived roughly twenty-five minutes after the scheduled time. During the delay, students waited anxiously, eager to begin and buzzing with speculation about the possible genres they might receive. When the announcement finally came that Horror was the assigned genre, the classroom erupted with a collective cheer, setting an energetic tone for the weekend ahead.
As in previous years, essential creative elements such as the genre, a required line of dialogue, a prop, and a character name were randomly assigned, placing every team on equal footing and introducing an element of surprise. With two teams competing this year, students worked out of separate classrooms on opposite sides of the Digital Media hallway. This setup challenged participants to manage their own spaces and resources while also fueling a friendly, more personal sense of competition that extended beyond the national stage.
Eat the Pepper!
Once the prompts were announced, students immediately jumped into the creative process. The first day stretched late into the evening as teams gathered around a whiteboard for focused pitching and script development. Taking on the horror genre came with its challenges, but the Beach Bums team adapted quickly, working through differences in creative direction to keep the project moving forward. This ability to remain flexible is not only essential to the competition but is also emphasized throughout their weekly coursework in the program.
The Beach Bums ultimately chose the WKGC 90.7 FM & HD Radio Station as the central setting for their film, leaning into the idea of haunted airwaves to create a distinctive approach. With every team in the competition working from the same required production elements, the group was mindful of avoiding predictable concepts and aimed to deliver a story that felt original and memorable. Huge thanks to both Wafiyyah Battle and Sohaib Masood who were featured on this project as extras!
Yaqub and Alejandro discuss the next steps of filming while Tyler sets up James for the final dolly-zoom shot.
The Beach Bums Team take to editing on Sunday morning ahead of the competition deadline.
Final Touches
Filming wrapped Saturday evening, giving the team valuable time to shift their focus to post-production. Borrowing a strategy from the 2023 season, the Beach Bums centralized their editing workflow across three primary computers, each dedicated to a different act of the film. This setup allowed lead editors to rotate between stations and make adjustments efficiently as the project took shape.
Running on very little sleep, the team reluctantly called it a night around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday. Their hesitation to stop was a clear reflection of how invested they were in the project. With some gentle encouragement from staff, the competitors were eventually persuaded to head home and get some much-needed rest.
The production process was not without its setbacks. Technical audio difficulties during filming, combined with an unexpected glitch in Adobe Premiere Pro, caused frustrating delays. Despite these challenges, the students persevered, supporting one another and pushing through to complete and submit their final video well within the allotted time. They even caught a critical missing component before the 5:00 p.m. deadline, allowing them to make a timely resubmission.
Throughout the final hours of the competition, the Beach Bums demonstrated a level of professionalism and camaraderie that extended beyond their own project. Despite the friendly competition, they consistently offered encouragement and support to their fellow team, Urchin Emergence, and reinforced the collaborative spirit of the Digital Media program. Their willingness to uplift their peers, even in the most high-pressure moments, reflected not only their character as creators but also the strong sense of community fostered within GCSC Digital Media.
The Beach Bums’ dedication and collaborative spirit were ultimately recognized with a third-place finish in the Broadcast Education Association 48-Hour Film Competition for the 2025 season.
More information about the Broadcast Education Associations Film Competition and rules can be found here.
Daniela "Danie" Oestreich
Assistant Professor, Digital Media at GCSC
As a graduate student at the University of Florida and current Assistant Professor of Digital Media at Gulf Coast State College, Daniela often has her nose buried in a book. She is always looking for opportunities to practice her writing by covering student projects, and promoting collegiate collaboration.
